Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Barry Block on 10 January 2020

Public Domain

Date: 2020-01-11

Last Updated: 2025-04-16

Categories: 🇺🇸 United States of America, Opening Prayers for Legislative Bodies

Tags: 116th Congress, 2019–20 Persian Gulf crisis, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, Prayers of Guest Chaplains, U.S. House of Representatives, תחינות teḥinot

Excerpt: The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 10 January 2020. . . .

Content:

Guest Chaplain: Barry H. Block, Congregation B’nai Israel, Little Rock, Arkansas
Sponsor: Rep. French Hill (R-AR)
Date of Prayer: 01/10/2020

Mr. Speaker, today I rise with my friend John Boozman, former Member of this House and now a Senator from Arkansas, to welcome today’s guest chaplain, my dear friend, Rabbi Barry Block of Congregation B’nai Israel in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Realizing his love for reformed Judaism at a young age, Rabbi Block earned his master of arts in Hebrew letters from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion before being ordained 3 years following completion of his degree.

Having devoted much of his life to the church, Rabbi Block found his way to Congregation B’nai Israel in my hometown of Little Rock, Arkansas, in 2013, after serving over 20 years at Temple Beth-El in San Antonio, Texas.

He has served Reform Judaism nationally and regionally as a member of the Board of the Central Conference of American Rabbis and chair of its resolutions and nominating committees and as president of the Southwest Association of Reform Rabbis.

He is the loving father of his two sons, Robert and Daniel.

I want to thank Rabbi Block for his gracing us with a wonderful opening prayer and wish him, his family, and his congregation continued success in our community of Little Rock.

Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	Source of blessing, we come before You today asking Your blessings upon the United States House of Representatives.
	At this time of grave division, inspire these Members of the people’s House to reach across every kind of aisle, to build new friendships that may grow into opportunities for greater understanding, seeking shared solutions to America’s greatest problems.
	As the winds of war threaten all humanity, inspire the Members of the people’s House to work toward peace, for the ability to wage peace is a greater measure of a nation’s strength than the capacity to wage war.
	Consecrate this House to perfect the Nation our Founders could not even envision — justice, liberty, freedom from persecution and discrimination for every person within our borders. Then will this House and our Nation truly be blessed.
אָמֵן׃	Amen.

Source(s)

116th Congress, 2nd Session. Congressional Record, Issue: Vol. 166, No. 6 — Daily Edition (January 10, 2020)

Contributor: the Congressional Record of the United States of America

Co-authors:

Name: the Congressional Record of the United States of America
Bio: The Congressional Record is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress, published by the United States Government Printing Office and issued when Congress is in session. Indexes are issued approximately every two weeks. At the end of a session of Congress, the daily editions are compiled in bound volumes constituting the permanent edition. Statutory authorization for the Congressional Record is found in Chapter 9 of Title 44 of the United States Code. (wikipedia)
Website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congressional_Record
Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/united-states-congressional-record

Name: Barry Block
Bio: Rabbi Barry Block is the rabbi of Congregation B’nai Israel in Little Rock, Arkansas. A Houston native, Rabbi Block was ordained in 1991 at the New York Campus of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, after having been awarded the degree, Master of Arts in Hebrew Letters, at the Los Angeles Campus in 1988. Rabbi Block previously served Temple Beth-El in San Antonio, Texas, beginning in 1992 as Assistant, then Associate, Rabbi; and as Senior Rabbi from 2002 to 2013. Rabbi Block has served Reform Judaism nationally and regionally as a member of the Board of the Central Conference of American Rabbis and Chair of its Resolutions and Nominating Committees, and as President of the Southwest Association of Reform Rabbis. For 21 years, he represented his colleagues throughout Texas and Oklahoma as Rabbinic Advisor of the Union for Reform Judaism’s Greene Family Camp for Living Judaism in Bruceville, Texas. He is a member of the President’s Rabbinic Alumni Council of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. Rabbi Block is the author of "Unplanned Fatherhood,” slated for 2013 publication by CCAR Press in The Sacred Encounter: Jewish Perspectives on Sexuality. Rabbi Block is Past Board Chair of the Planned Parenthood Trust of South Texas. In 2013, he completed long service to Methodist Healthcare Ministries, the largest non-governmental provider of indigent health care in south Texas, and Methodist Healthcare System, the largest hospital group and second largest private employer in San Antonio. His service there included several terms as Chair of the Healthcare System’s Ethics and Compliance Committee. In 2012, Human Rights Campaign bestowed its Equality Award upon Rabbi Block at its annual gala in San Antonio.
Website: http://www.bnai-israel.us/content/OUR_RABBI/rabbi_barry_blo.asp
Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/barry-block

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